MODELING AND CHARACTERIZING A NOVEL HYBRID INFILL PATTERN FOR ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING

In this paper, a novel hybrid infill pattern is introduced denoted as Hexagonal Zigzag pattern and its mechanical properties are investigated through experiments. The novel pattern is island type with zigzag raster repeating in a regular periodic hexagonal pattern. The size of the hexagon and the infill density can be controlled by the quantity and spacing of the zigzag raster in each hexagon cell. A mathematical model on the relationship between these two raster parameters and their effect on infill density is established. This model allows the scope of manipulating the infill parameter values to customize the hexagon size and infill density. The mechanical properties of the proposed pattern are then compared with two existing infill patterns - honeycomb and zigzag - for 15.5% overall infill density through compression tests. The test results indicate that the proposed pattern has the highest absorbed energy density before densification compared to the two existing infill patterns. Besides, the compression strength of the proposed pattern gradually increases after 40% compression strain while the other patterns exhibit this phenomenon after 60% compression strain, which exhibits its improved resistance against crushing. Overall, the experimental investigation reveals that the proposed infill pattern yields comparable mechanical performance with improved energy absorption ability.